The journey of raising a "unicorn"

Spring of the Year of the Horse - With the ambition that by 2030, Da Nang's innovation and startup ecosystem will be among the top 300 globally, and within that, at least one technology "unicorn" valued at $1 billion will be included. To achieve this goal, Da Nang has embarked on a long journey with persistent steps.

Mr. Truong Tu Long, Director of Hai Van Clean Energy JSC, with his project to "transform" biological waste into resources. Photo: LAN ANH

Nurturing ideas

From the pruning and leaf gathering activities that were once just for cleaning the streets, Mr. Truong Tu Long (Thanh Khe ward) recognized a forgotten resource and applied technology to its processing. Founded by Mr. Long, Hai Van Clean Energy Joint Stock Company has implemented a model for recycling organic waste from pruning into biomass, partially replacing coal in industrial production. The company supplies approximately 100-500 tons of pellets and powder to factories each month.

To develop his project, Long needed to understand every indicator, from process design and operational management to finding partners and demonstrating market capabilities. He was invited to participate in support programs from the Department of Science and Technology and startup incubators. At the 2025 Impact Measurement Day, with his startup project focusing on social, environmental, and circular economy impacts, he received advice and support to change his mindset. "Before, I only thought about how to handle waste, but now I have to be able to answer partners' questions about what value this product creates, how much cost it saves, and how much emissions it reduces. Thanks to this, many big brands like Heineken, Vinamilk , and Pepsi have become stable partners of the company," Long said.

Also developing innovative technology-based startup projects, but on a smaller scale, the VietVerse project by the Grolink group (FPT High School Da Nang) chooses a "learning through play" approach using playing cards and role-playing experiences, transforming cultural knowledge into a journey of discovery, questioning, debating, and unlocking content according to a heritage map. Le Thi Phuong Chi, co-founder of the project, shared: “We want Vietnamese culture to be more than just in museums or textbooks; through VietVerse, people can touch the story, interact, and debate… It’s not about memorizing, but about living with the culture.”

With limited technological resources and a simple project organization process, Phuong Chi's team was able to participate in the incubation program of the Da Nang Business Incubator (DNES). Through this, VietVerse's initial ideas were continuously nurtured, trained, and properly connected, so that when they reached a mature stage, the product entered the market in a systematic and robust manner.

The city has implemented many programs to support and enhance the capacity of startups in recent times. Photo: PHAN VINH

Synchronized development

In recent years, the city has been investing heavily in the "soft infrastructure" of the startup ecosystem, from training, incubation, mentoring, and investment networking to programs that help startups understand themselves, measure their capabilities, and gradually access the market.

Mr. Ly Dinh Quan, General Director of the Song Han Startup Incubation Center, believes that developing an innovation ecosystem requires a synchronized pull between policies, support programs, and the market. "Startup projects need many supporting factors, from human resources, technology, business models to capital, but more importantly, there must be sufficiently long connection channels so that young businesses can meet investors, partners, and customers at the right time, instead of just appearing once and then disappearing. This is a mandatory condition for the ecosystem to operate sustainably," Mr. Quan emphasized.

In fact, the city has recently focused on supporting and enhancing the capacity of startup projects. Specifically, FINC+ 2025 – a program implemented by DNES – emphasizes the intrinsic capabilities of startups, from product thinking and market access to fundraising and management. Ms. Doan Thi Xuan Trang, Deputy Director of DNES, believes that entrepreneurship should be viewed as a professional journey where systematic training, in-depth mentoring, and clear networking mechanisms are indispensable tools. "Young people need to be equipped with practical skills, understand customers, understand the market, and know how to build businesses using data and critical thinking, allowing them to make mistakes within controllable limits and then correct them," Ms. Trang said.

Furthermore, the establishment of a startup support system in southern Da Nang by the end of October 2025 shows that the city is bringing the ecosystem closer to the business community and new spaces, instead of concentrating it in the central area. Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc, a member of the National Startup Advisory Council - VCCI, believes that as the ecosystem expands, the most important thing is the capacity for coordination between state agencies, support organizations, universities, and businesses to avoid a situation where everyone acts independently, with many activities but difficulty in forming a value chain. The network must be a system with a shared commitment to goals, support standards, and resource sharing mechanisms, so that startups are continuously guided from the incubation stage to growth.

Startups that utilize digital technology are expected to become "unicorns" in Da Nang's startup ecosystem. Photo: PHAN VINH

Upgrading internal capabilities

In the "Da Nang - City of Innovation" project, the vision for ecosystem development is set with very specific goals: building a friendly innovation environment, elevating the ecosystem to an international level and striving to be among the top 300 global innovation and startup ecosystems; supporting the formation of approximately 500 startup businesses, aiming for at least one technology "unicorn" valued at $1 billion; attracting 8-10 venture capital funds to establish representative offices in the city, connecting with at least 100 domestic and foreign investment funds; implementing at least 50 controlled pilot projects under a sandbox mechanism...

These goals demonstrate that the city has begun to approach the startup ecosystem with concrete figures, rather than just slogans. The section on innovative startups also clearly states the requirement to increase the scale of support for projects and businesses compared to the previous period, linked to attracting a network of experts, increasing investment capital flows, and building the brand "Da Nang - the city of innovation" as a destination for talent and technology businesses.

However, when transitioning from "project" to "implementation," many questions have arisen, such as: How will the Sandbox operate? Who will be responsible for licensing and managing it? What model will the city's venture capital fund design to both create market momentum and ensure efficient budget utilization? What incentives will be attractive enough to persuade funds to establish representative offices in Da Nang, beyond infrastructure and brand recognition?... Mr. Nguyen Viet Toan, Director of the Da Nang City Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, believes that policies can only be implemented effectively when the internal capabilities of startups are standardized. If it only stops at allowing experimentation, while businesses lack management skills, measurement data, and investment connections, the sandbox will struggle to be effective.

"We need to build a series of training, mentoring, measurement, and investment connection programs at each stage, from idea to business model, and then to fundraising and market expansion. When startups are strong enough to walk that path, the ecosystem can nurture technology businesses that can go the distance," Mr. Toan emphasized.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/hanh-trinh-nuoi-duong-ky-lan-3325107.html